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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30070743">Flames of Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_R_K/pseuds/A_R_K'>A_R_K</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatthewHowlerZPD/pseuds/MatthewHowlerZPD'>MatthewHowlerZPD</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Custodians Verse [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Zootopia (2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Bad Cooking, Epic Bromance, F/M, Not Beta Read, Romantic Fluff, Skye still loves him, Third Wheels, jack is a mess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:47:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,864</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30070743</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_R_K/pseuds/A_R_K, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatthewHowlerZPD/pseuds/MatthewHowlerZPD</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Love is in the air! Some of Zootopia's finest heroes head out on Valentine's Day for romantic dates. Fluff and chaos ensures.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Christina Arena-Howler/Samuel Howler-Arena, Cobalt Northridge/Su-Jin Ho, Gyaltsen Zigsa &amp; Akihiko Hanten, Jack Savage &amp; Nick Wilde, Jack Savage/Skye, Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde, Oliver Arena/Maya, Original Character/Original Character, Sara Burnbright/Akihiko Hanten</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Custodians Verse [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2085489</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Flames of Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With an angry hiss, a white hot fire erupted into the room, bringing with it the unmistakable scent of burning flesh. The flame sizzled, cooling to an orange glow as it spread. Anything trapped in the fire cried out slightly, as the flames heated the water in their bodies to its boiling point. The fire leapt up the walls, hungry for more to burn and consume, when a sudden, yet gradual shaking of the foundation began. Having its source of fuel either burned off or disrupted, the fire had no choice but to die, letting out one more angry hiss before the last ember was extinguished.</p><p>Satisfied, Nicholas Wilde quickly yet carefully poured the flambed salmon onto his plate, over the rice he had prepared earlier. Carefully, he grabbed the plate along with the tofu he had prepared earlier, and brought them over to the table. He placed the tofu in front of Judy Hopps, his partner and girlfriend.</p><p>“Dinner is served, honey glaze.” He said. In response, Judy leaned up, and kissed the fox on the cheek.</p><p>“Thanks for making this for me.” She exclaimed after the smootch, her grin causing him to smile. He placed his own plate down at his spot, before grabbing the wine bottle he had placed on the table earlier. He wasn’t normally a drinker, but tonight was a very special occasion. He walked up to Judy’s spot once again, and poured the red liquid into her glass. All the while, he looked her in the eyes and smiled. Just being around her made him happy.</p><p>“You’re quite the charmer, aren’t you?” The bunny teasingly joked as he filled the glass.</p><p>“Carrots, it’s just in my nature. Us foxes are naturally affectionate. And tonight, I have no better excuse, my valentine.” Nick’s little speech caused his girlfriend to turn away, her ears lighting up bright red with blush. After he finished with her glass, he filled with his own. But just before he could sit down in his own chair, his cell phone began to ring.</p><p>“Just a second.” said, motioning to Judy as he got up and moved over into the living room, plopping himself down on the couch. Reaching into his pocket, he looked at his phone. ‘Incoming call from Jack Savage,’ it read. Striking a smirk, he accepted the call. “Hey there Stripes.” he said smugly into the phone, holding it up to his muzzle.</p><p>“Nick yah gotta help me!” a panicked voice greeted him from the other end.</p><p>“What did you do now Jacky Boy?” Nick grinned, knowing that when it came to the hare, he could be expecting anything, to needing help taking down a multilevel drug smuggling ring, to bringing over a pawcuff key to free him after locking himself to a radiator. Again.</p><p>“Nick I just realized it’s Valentine’s Day! And I have nothing planned for Skye!” Jack’s whimpered, obviously not wanting to disappoint his vixen. Nick could sort of understand. He looked towards the dinning room where Judy patiently was waiting. He could definitely understand.</p><p>Sighing, Nick pinched the bridge of his muzzle, hoping to get this done quick so he could get back to his bunny. “Alright look Stripes, here’s what you do. I’m assuming wherever you are has a kitchen right? So, do what I did for Carrots and cook a romantic meal,” Nick grinned as he finished, sure that he’d be able to get back to dinner soon.</p><p>Alas, it seemed Jack still wasn’t done with the poor fox, “awwww! You made dinner for Judy? Could it be that the great Nick Wilde has gone domestic already?” His words oozed with smugness, causing Nick to roll his eyes.</p><p>“Big words coming from someone who still needs help, Stripes,” Nick teased, as he knew Jack well enough to know when the hare needed to banter to keep calm. “But yes, I made my girlfriend dinner on Valentine’s Day, I know, scandalous.”</p><p>Jack laughed, “Alright, alright, I give! Oh mighty aromance guru, I beseech you. Help this lonely hare with pleasing his arctic beauty!” he groveled, making Nick laugh at his friend’s antics.</p><p>“Alright Stripes, the ‘romance guru’ will take pity on you,” he chuckled, “just make her something simple, I made Judy some flambeed tofu and picked up some wine.”</p><p>“Well, I’m not really the greatest cook, but the worst that can happen is just some burnt food, right? Yeah, I think I can do that, Thanks Nick!” The line went dead as the excited Jack hung up.</p><p>“Well no, you also risk food poisoning or grease fire if you don’t cook it properly, so try something simple ok? Ok Stripes?” Nick paused, “huh. He hung up. Eh, I’m sure he’ll be fine” he muttered to himself before heading back to his dinner and his girlfriend.</p><p>----------------------</p><p>A maned wolf and a coyote stood outside a restaurant, both sets of eyes locked on the entrance with equal looks of wide eyes.</p><p>“This looks like the place.” Oliver Arena glanced at Maya, who looked even more nervous than he felt. Hesitating a little, Oliver placed his arm around her, as he tried to comfort the maned wolf, “c-come on Maya, it’ll be fine, right?”</p><p>She let out a shaky sigh, leaning into his touch unconsciously, “y-yeah. It’s just dinner right?” She let out a deep breath before she slipped her paw between Oliver’s, finding comfort in the softness and warmth of the coyote’s gloved paw. Somehow, that always helped her feel safer. Somehow <em>he</em> always helped her feel safer. Taking a deep breath, she mustered up enough courage to begin walking up to the entrance. Once the two had passed through the entryway, she looked around. The restaurant was massive, with mammals of all different sizes seated around a conveyer belt, which carried their food towards them. The walls were wooden, decorated with all sorts of paraphernalia showcasing the restaurant’s history, all sorts of sushi, and aspects pertaining to the life and career of its main chef. As the sounds of chatter echoed through the space, she began to feel overwhelmed, and she glanced over at Oliver for comfort. The look in his eyes told her everything was going to be okay. The two kept walking, until they reached a table at a turn in the belt. Already, two other coyotes were sitting there. One of them, sipping away at a bowl of miso soup, looked up and waved over at the newcomers.</p><p>“Hey guys!” Christina Arena-Howler stood up to hug her brother, before nodding politely at Maya. “Glad you could make it!” She sat back down, gesturing for them to do the same. Samuel Howler nodded in greeting to his brother in law, mouth too full with sushi to be able to speak. “As you can see by Sam, we couldn’t really wait to order, sorry Maya.” Christina rubbed the back of her neck embarrassed, before looking at Oliver, “sorry Oliver, but <em>you</em> should have known better then to be late,” she laughed, as Oliver rolled his eyes at her antics.</p><p>“Not all of us can move as ‘fast’ as you can Christina,” Oliver deadpanned, causing Christina to just laugh. “And hello Sam, glad to know my sister hasn’t managed to chase you away yet.” His laughter turned into a yelp as Christina huffed and punched him in the arm, giving him a dirty look. Samuel, however, just looked at his wife with a loving look, “oh trust me, she might try to get rid of me, but I don’t plan to ever let my fluffball leave my life.” With that, he leaned over and placed a tender kiss on Christina’s cheek, causing her to smile warmly at her mate. Watching the two display their affection to each other made Maya happy. She hoped she and Oliver could be that close one day, even if in a platonic way. She’d be ok with that.</p><p>Honest.</p><p>“Itchy Maya?” Christina interrupted her thoughts, a bemused tone in her voice. Maya looked at her with confusion, only to falter when she realized that she had been absent mindedly scratching her leg. The same way she did when <em>something</em> powerful was near.</p><p>Instinctively, Maya reached for her bag, needing her necklace that would boost her senses. Once she knew what she was up against, she’d be safe. Oliver would be able to protect her, and she’d be able to guide him on how to do so. Then they could finish dinner, and she’d be able to get back home to where she was safe. Only, to her horror, she remembered that Oliver made her leave her bag at home, in favor of a smaller purse. One without her necklace.</p><p>“Maya? Are you ok?” Oliver frowned. Maya was starting to shake, in an all too familiar way. He slid over to her and pulled her into his arms, “hey, hey, shhh.” He began to rub her back, knowing that usually calmed her down. “You’re safe Maya, remember? You’re not alone anymore, you have friends now. You have a family,” he whispered softly to the maned wolf. Slowly, he could feel her shaking stop, as she looked the coyote in the eyes. Somehow, she knew everything was going to be alright. “Whatever it is, we’re going to be alright,” Oliver echoed her thoughts.</p><p>Christina and Samuel stared at the couple, watching as the events unfolded. They were confused as to why she had this sudden reaction, but Christina, seeing her brother react in such a way, saw an opportunity and took it.</p><p>“Wow Oliver,” she smirked, “I had no idea you could be such a caring boyfriend.” Oliver blushed as Maya was quick to slide away from the coyote, both adopting innocent, and embarrassed, looks.</p><p>Oliver swallowed, “Sh-she’s not… I’m not… Christina!” he whined. His reaction caused his sister to burst out into laughter. Carefully, he sat down, as he continued to look at Christina for her remark. Maya followed in his footsteps, taking a seat. The group sat in silence for a while, before Samuel spoke up. “</p><p>Now, let’s eat!” He exclaimed, as he grabbed a passing plate on the conveyor belt. Christina and Oliver did the same, and soon enough, a small pile of plates began to accumulate at the table as the group ate the raw fish, rice and seaweed confections and chatted back and forth. Everyone except Maya, who would occasionally chime in to the conversation, but the spot in front of her remained empty. Oliver glanced over at Maya, the maned wolf, his head tilted slightly in confusion.</p><p>“Maya, you know you’re allowed to take some of the sushi to eat, right?” He asked, causing Christina and Samuel to pause in their eating to look over at her. She jumped slightly as the attention was called to her.</p><p>She swallowed, “but… but it’s,” she muttered the last part, Oliver’s ears strained to hear her.</p><p>He smiled fondly at her, “come again Maya? I’m not yet fluent in Maya Mumbles,” he lightly teased, trying to make her laugh.</p><p>“But it’s raw,” she whispered, ears flushed. She knew she was being stupid, Oliver wouldn’t make her eat food that would hurt her, she knew that. She trusted him, she did! ...She just didn’t trust that raw fish. Maya suddenly let out a soft gasp as she felt Oliver slide over to her seat, causing her to look up with confusion.</p><p>Oliver grabbed a passing plate and put it at her spot. He grabbed a piece with his chopsticks, and held it up to her. “Here, try this one Maya. You like salmon, right?” He smiled encouragingly, “try it, it’s good,” he said in a soothing voice, as Christina and Samuel wore supportive smiles.</p><p>She held back a whimper, she’d humor the coyotes, then they’d never make her try sushi again. Reluctantly, she grabbed one of the pieces off the plate, and, paw shaking, opened her mouth, carefully placing it inside. As she chewed, she couldn’t help but feel pleasantly surprised. The fish wasn’t slimy like she expected, but instead firm. The savory taste of the raw salmon combined with that of the rice and the seaweed to an extraordinary sensation inside her mouth. As she chewed, the fish fell apart in her mouth, and the rice and seaweed were chewy, but not so much to where it hurt her jaws.</p><p>She swallowed, “heck,” she muttered as she felt the rest of their faces on her, “I liked it.” The rest of the table just laughed as she pouted, Oliver ruffling the top of her head as he did so.</p><p>----------------------</p><p>Akihiko Hanten prepared himself for battle. He only had one shot at this, so he had to make sure he didn’t mess up, even a little bit, or else he would win. He nodded at his partner, Sara Burnbright, who clutched the leopard’s paw tightly as the two approached their destination. Looking up into the sky, he could see smoke rising in the distance. With a deep inhale, he felt the heat flowing through his veins. Slowly, he took steps towards the place the two agreed to meet. Suddenly, he felt a paw rest against his shoulder, a paw that wasn’t his partner’s. In a fit of panic, he turned around, releasing his partner’s grip as he struck a battle stance and sent out a punch in the direction of the paw. His energy extended past his clenched fist, as a stream of fire extended past it and was sent soaring through the air.</p><p>“Hey, be careful! You’re lucky I dodged that, as I don’t want you ruining my favorite shirt!” Gyaltsen Zigsa dusted himself off, as the fireball hit the side of a nearby trash can, knocking it over harmlessly.</p><p>“Sorry, force of habit.” He was still trying to get a full grasp on his powers, as while he had certainly gotten better, he was still far from mastery, and his instinctive use of them showed that better than anything else.</p><p>“Besides, didn’t Coach tell us over and over again not to use our powers in public? That’s a sure fire way to accidentally reveal ourselves to the enemy.”</p><p>“Dude, relax. Look around, I don’t think anyone saw us. The only one who’s remotely paying attention here is Sara, and we both know her brother.” The Tiger quietly nodded to her boyfriend’s remark on Nathan, she was one of the few siblings that he trusted enough to let her in on the secret.</p><p>“Really?” The snow leopard looked around confused. Sure enough, the few mammals walking down the streets didn’t seem to have noticed the display of heat that had just occurred. They all seemed to be too occupied with whatever partner they were with. A fire truck barreled down the street, which caused Gyaltsen to look back at his friend.</p><p>“Not my fault.” The Amur leopard exclaimed, sheepishly. Ever since he had discovered his flame powers, it had always been awkward to see a fire truck passing by. Especially after the time he set the pool on fire. Gyaltsen still made fun of him for that.</p><p>Sara laughed, “I’m sure it wasn’t hon.” She leaned in and pressed a light kiss on his cheek, causing his ears to redden slightly as Gyaltsen made mock gagging noise. Sara rolled her eyes, “yes Gyaltsen, I understand how you're more mature than we are, we’ll try to act more like you,” she said dryly, causing Akihiko and Gyaltsen to laugh.</p><p>The snow leopard grinned cheekily, “yeah, I know, it must be hard to live up to all this.” He stood in a mock heroic pose, pretending to be serious. Sara rolled her eyes, while Akihiko just laughed.</p><p>Sara checked her watch, causing her eyes to widen in shock. “Akihiko come on, it’s almost time for the movie!” She turned to her boyfriend, who facepalmed. She was confused at first, until she saw that Gyaltsen perked up.</p><p>“Movie? I love movies! Which one are we seeing?” He asked excitedly, causing the couple to groan. There went their plan of seeing a movie by themselves. Gyaltsen looked at them with a now confused expression, “what’s wrong?” He tilted his head.</p><p>Sara sighed, “there’s no convincing him to stay in the dorms, is there?” she asked her boyfriend, a tone of defeat in her voice.</p><p>He laughed, “not unless you have six pounds of green gummy fish and three glue sticks.” The leopard reached over and placed his paw on the snow leopard’s shoulder. “Besides, I honestly didn’t expect him to come when we planned this thing. He just sorta tagged along. We’re like magnets I guess, you can’t fully separate us no matter how much you try.”</p><p>Gyalsten smirked, “uh oh! Magnetic pull!” He jumped into Akihiko’s side, who squawked as the force brought both of them to the ground. Sara just laughed as the two friends rolled around on the sidewalk trying to get untangled.</p><p>“You brought that one on yourself babe,” the tigress giggled as she took a picture. She knew a certain teacher who would love to see his two best students trapped by their own inability to separate their limbs from each other. She smirked, knowing how he’d make them do one of those insane obstacle courses of his.</p><p>Finally, with a gust of wind, Gyaltsen managed to jump free of Akihiko. Sara just shook her head before helping the Amur leopard to his feet. Akihiko grumbled, “thanks Sara.” He glared at Gyaltsen, who didn’t even bother to hide his laughter. He suddenly yelped, however, when a bolt of fire was shot at his feet, making him jump.</p><p>Sara quickly stepped between the two before either could continue the fight. “Guys it’s so not the time for this,” she grabbed Akihiko’s paw. “The movie starts in ten minutes, we are not going to be late, and we will enjoy our date tonight!” she firmly stated, dragging him towards the theater, followed by a thankfully silent Gyaltsen. “Dude, your girlfriend is scary!”</p><p>Ok, a <em>quiet</em> Gyaltsen. Or at least, quiet by Gyaltsen standards.</p><p>“Dude, how is she scary?”</p><p>“She’s pushing you around and stuff! Don’t you hate that?”</p><p>“She just wants everything to be perfect, there’s nothing wrong with that.”</p><p>“Dude, a robot is less of a perfectionist than her! No offense to Sunny of course”</p><p>“Yare yare daze…” The leopard muttered under his breath, reverting to his native tongue so that his friend wouldn’t understand him. Normally he loved having the bubbly snow leopard as company, but right now he just wanted some quiet time with his girlfriend. “Look, you got your credit card, right?”</p><p>Gyaltsen nodded, pulling his card out. “Right here!”</p><p>“Alright, then why don’t you go get us some snacks? Get me a medium orange soda and a chocolate bar.” He then turned to Sara. “Sweetie, would you like to share a popcorn bucket?”</p><p>“Sounds good to me.” The tigress replied. “I’d also like a medium Cub Soda please.”</p><p>“You got it!” Gyaltsen loudly exclaimed, as he ran over to the snack bar. As he ran off Akihiko took note of the line. It was rather long. Perfect.</p><p>Sara sighed in relief. That should buy her some time alone with her boyfriend. While she understood that the snow leopard needed to spend time with Akihiko, for <em>both</em> of their sanity, she’d preferred if he at least gave them time to themselves for their dates. She smiled, at least they were alone for now. She smiled at that, “hey Akihiko, while we wait for Gyaltsen to get back, I want to tell you something.”</p><p>“Sure, what is it?”</p><p>“I… I just want to tell you, my life’s been so much better since we started dating. When we first met, I was in a dark spot and I don’t know what I would’ve done without your help…” She placed her paw on his, “and I think… I think that I lov-”</p><p>Her confession was cut off by an excited Gyaltsen, “I’m back guys! And I have snacks!” He practically vibrated with excitement, holding what seemed to be half the snack counter. Sara groaned at the interruption while Akihiko just laughed, clearly used to the snow leopard’s appetite by now.</p><p>Akihiko laughed, slightly exasperated. “Dude, we ate before we left school, you didn’t need to buy your weight in candy and popcorn!”</p><p>“But Akihiko! It was ten percent off tonight! I’d be stupid <em>not</em> to buy this much!” Gyaltsen argued, clearly proud of the deal he got. Sara blinked, clearly not expecting him back so soon, nor with so much food. Seriously, where <em>did</em> he put it all?!</p><p>Akihiko shook his head foundly, “and to think you got a B in economics studies. Is that an entire pizza?” He asked, pointing towards a flat square box that the snow leopard was using as a tray.</p><p>“Meat lovers specifically. It’s got turkey bacon, sausage, crickets, anchovies, all that good stuff!” Sara backed up a few steps instinctively as he listed the toppings. How could he stomach all this food? It was enough to feed a starving elephant, and on top of dinner?</p><p>“And why’d you decide to get an entire pizza, on top of your obscene amount of candy and popcorn?”</p><p>“Well, if I bought this, I’d get three extra large fountain drinks half off! Plus, they threw in a free jumbo pretzel!”</p><p>Akihiko shook his head and sighed.</p><p>“Wait, why’d you get three things of popcorn? Akihiko asked you to get one for us to share,” Sara interrupted, before Akihiko could comment on Gyaltsen’s so-called deal. Honestly, those two could go on forever otherwise if she let them.</p><p>“Oh, these. They’re actually for myself. I only got one for you two, but I hope you like extra butter!” he happily explained, as he handed Akihiko one of the popcorn tubs and Sara her soda.</p><p>She sighed, “and why did you have to get me an extra large when I wanted a medium?” she resided the urge to rub the bridge of her nose. Gyaltsen never got food sizes right when he ordered, she should know this by now. If anything, she should be glad he only got an extra large and not an elephant’s small. Again.</p><p>“Sara, the deal was three extra large drinks half off,” Gyaltsen said, looking slightly confused, “if I got you a medium, then I’d be stuck with two extra larges, which is just crazy.” He shook his head, causing some of the popcorn to spill onto his pizza box.</p><p>Akihiko simply shook his head at Sara, who opened her mouth, “don’t bother hon, Gyaltsen works off his own logic,” he explained.</p><p>“You better believe I do!” Gyaltsen beamed, before he noticed Sara’s expression. He paused for a bit before perking back up, “hey, I’m going to go save us some seats, you two can do whatever it was that you couples do ok?” He winked at her before walking off, balancing his food.</p><p>Sara blinked, “did he actually read the room for once?” she asked, turning to Akhiko, “like, did that actually happ-”</p><p>Akihiko cut her off, pressing his lips against hers softly, “I love you too Sara,” he smiled warmly at her, “happy Valentines Day,” he grinned at the blushing face of his tigress. As the two started to walk towards the theater, Sara couldn’t help but think, <em>maybe having Gyaltsen tagging along all the time wouldn’t be that bad.</em> She looked at their seats, and back at Gyaltsen, who had already begun to loudly dig into his mountain of food, which took up an entire seat next to him. <em>Maybe</em>.</p><p>----------------------</p><p>Cobalt Northridge couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched. As the sun set over the horizon in a beautiful purple and orange glow, his powers became weaker and weaker. He clutched his sun pendant for warmth, the necklace containing a small piece of the sun’s power. While it wasn’t ideal, he could use it in a pinch. Cautiously, he looked around for his girlfriend.</p><p>“There you are!” a voice from behind called, making him yelp and turn around in surprise. He sighed in relief when he saw who it was that ‘ambushed’ him. Su-Jin Ho, his girlfriend, smiled warmly at him as she pulled him in for a hug. She laughed as she nuzzled into the crook of his neck, “did I scare you?”</p><p>“Who me? Scared of my beautiful girlfriend?” Cobalt hugged her back. “Maybe just a little,” he admitted with a small chuckle. He kissed her gently on the top of her head, “but only because I wasn’t expecting you to get here so soon without getting distracted by something shiny in a store window,” he teased.</p><p>She pouted, “you know I would never be late to something as important as a date with you.” She looked at him warmly, causing him to smile.</p><p>“You’re such a smooth talker,” he laughed as he kissed her on the lips, his tail wagging. In response, she gave him a few affectionate licks on the cheek.</p><p>“And you’re such a sweetheart!” She responded, causing her boyfriend to smile. She wanted to stay like this forever, him held in her arms, but at the same time, she wanted to see what he had planned for her tonight. Cobalt seemed particularly excited for tonight too, so she should let him have his fun and surprise her.</p><p>“So my love, you ready for tonight’s date?” he asked warmly, already knowing the answer. Su-Jin was always ready to spend time with him, and him with her. It was one of the reasons he planned tonight the way he did.</p><p>Su-Jin nodded excitedly, “are you kidding me? I’ve been waiting since Thursday for this!” She all but shouted, her tail practically a blur with excitement. If he didn’t tell her what the date was soon, she’d probably achieve liftoff. Cobalt couldn’t help but chuckle, seeing her so happy like this.</p><p>“Well then, it’s time for the first stop on our journey.” He said, as he turned over to the jewelry store. Usually such fancy items weren’t affordable to a simple teacher, but tonight was special. Besides, he had a rich family to back him up.</p><p>Once she saw where he was leading her, Su-Jin let out a squeal of excitement. “We’re going shopping?” Cobalt laughed and simply nodded, causing her to grab his paw and drag him towards the store, “come on!” she cried, already planning on where to look first.</p><p>Once inside, Su-Jin ran off to look at the necklaces, Cobalt trailing behind her with a smile on his face. He made sure to keep an eye out for which styles of jewelry she liked best, he wanted to get this perfect. He <em>needed</em> to get this perfect. “So, see anything you like?” he casually asked her, hoping she wouldn’t notice what he was up to.</p><p>It seemed to work, the wolf’s face lit up at the chance presented to her. “Yes actually! Look at this one.” She held up a silver chain made up of a bunch of chevrons evenly spaced out, one behind the other. Each one was facing the same direction, and at the end was a small, blue, sapphire ball.</p><p>Cobalt laughed, “you like the fishtail pattern huh?” he asked after a quick glance at the display case to see what it was called. And maybe also how much it cost, he liked buying her gifts and if he couldn’t find a ring here, the necklace would be his plan B.</p><p>“Heh, well it is nice, but no, I <em>love</em> the color of the sphere thing, it reminds me of someone very important in my life,” she winked.</p><p>Blood rushed to Cobalt’s ears as he closed his eyes, “oh shush,” he mumbled. Su-Jin just laughed and gave him a small lick on the cheek, before she skipped off to look at some bracelets. He smiled, glad to see her enjoying herself, even more so with the knowledge that he was the one responsible for her joy.</p><p>He looked around to make sure Su-Jin wasn’t looking, before he snuck off to the ring counter. This had to be quick, Cobalt didn’t want to ruin the surprise by getting caught. Seeing a salesmammal about to speak, he quickly motioned her to be quiet, “my girlfriend is over looking at bracelets, I don’t want her to know I’m buying her her engagement ring,” he whispered, as he pointed in Su-Jin’s direction.</p><p>Understanding flashed on the tapir’s face as she saw Su-Jin try on a bracelet. She smiled, “alright sir, is there anything you had in mind?” She whispered back, before giving him an exaggerated wink. It seems like she dealt with this on a regular basis. Cobalt looked at her knowing smirk. It definitely was something she dealt with on a regular basis. He wanted to give her a ring with a sapphire in it, as the blue gem was her birthstone.</p><p>He swallowed nervously, “I was hoping you had a ring set with a sapphire,” he admitted, ears flushed. As much as he loved Su-Jin, it was still weird. He was actually doing this! He already imagined her walking down the aisle, she’d look so beautiful, he’s so lucky to have her.</p><p>His thoughts were interrupted, “here you go sir, all of our rings with a sapphire in them,” the tapir slid a tray of rings across the counter. Cobalt gulped, there were a lot more choices than he thought there’d be. He needed to get the perfect ring, but at the same time, he didn’t want Su-Jun to see where he was.</p><p>The wolf looked towards his girlfriend and sighed in relief. She finished looking at the bracelets, but she went back to looking at the necklace from earlier. Knowing her, she’d probably end up buying it, he thought with amusement before he turned back to the rings. His ears drooped, none of these rings seemed liked they’d fit her. He sighed, looked like he just had to settle for buying her the necklace she liked.</p><p>He stepped away from the counter, a dejected whimper barely held back. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his paw, making him yelp. Cobalt looked down, and stuck to his paw was another ring. It must have fallen when the salesmammal gave him the tray. Curiosity peaked, Cobalt picked it up to examine, gasping when he saw it closer. It was perfect for Su-Jin! Twin sapphires held a larger diamond, all set in a golden band.</p><p>“I’ll take this one,” he breathed, still amazed by how well it fitted his love.</p><p>The tapir smiled, glad to see that he settled on a ring, “wonderful! Would you like it engraved sir? It’ll only take a day or two, and we’ll contact you when it’s done,” she explained.</p><p>Cobalt didn’t even have to think, “yes, that’ll be perfect.” He grinned, he knew exactly what to have it say too.</p><p>Su-Jin let out a small squeak as she felt Cobalt wrap his arms around her, before she smiled and turned to kiss him. “Hey there sweetie, find any treasure?” She teased, ruffling the fur on his head. Cobalt smiled warmly at her, and nodded.</p><p>“I’m with my greatest treasure right now.”</p><p>----------------------</p><p>Jack Savage carefully parked his car in the garage neighboring his apartment complex. The vehicle was a bit damaged, having been shot up by some goons while the master spy made his escape, but that was nothing that Skye couldn’t fix. She loved a challenge after all. He patted the steering wheel affectionately, no matter what was thrown at it, Jack’s car always kept him safe. He closed the door and locked it, looking forward to a long shower and a warm bed. His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp tug at his neck, cutting off his breath.</p><p>“AACK!” he gasped, falling back against the car. He looked at his tie and sighed. It got caught in the car door again. He was seriously considering switching to a clip on. Or maybe a bow tie! That thought made his ears perk up, excited to hear Skye’s thoughts on that. Carefully, he traversed through the parking garage, towards the door that led inside. As he walked, his paw rested close to his sidearm, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice in case he was followed back. After opening the door to the building, he climbed two flights of stairs, his ears twitching at even the slightest sound. But still, no enemies showed themselves.</p><p>Walking down to the end of his hallway, he reached his apartment, the third door on the right. Finally, he relaxed and let his paw off the gun. He reached into his pocket, looking for his keys. He paused, they weren’t in his pants… Ok he wouldn’t panic, they were probably just in his shirt pocket. He shrugged off his jacket, patting his shirt to see if the keys were there. “Come on,” he muttered. They weren’t there either! Now he started to panic, he needed his keys! The hare turned and ran back towards the car, maybe he dropped his keys in there. Opening the door to the stairwell, Jack started down the stairs, only to slip and fall, “oooow,” he winced, rubbing his head. He looked at the floor to see what he slipped on. It was his keys. Somehow he dropped his keys on the stairwell without even noticing it. That was a new one, he had to admit that.</p><p>He stood up and started to walk back to his apartment, ears drooping. He was an ace in the field, but it always seemed like he had the worst luck whenever he wasn’t doing work for the Agency. Once he got to the door, he slowly turned the keys into the lock, and opened the door into his apartment. It wasn’t really a place you’d expect a top-class agent like himself to call home, but it gave him a place to lie low after a long day, or days, of hard work. Plopping himself down on the couch, Jack rested for a moment before remembering it was Valentine’s Day. Shit… He knew how much Skye liked to stay late at her garage, tinkering with her various vehicles, but he was still anxious that he had nothing to show her. If only the Agency had sent the two abroad on a mission… After finishing it early, they could’ve eaten a hand-crafted meal in Itaily, or watched the Pawaiian sunset together.</p><p>Jack sighed, if only there was some kind of romance expert he could consult. That way he wouldn’t have to worry about messing up when planning the date for tonight. It sadly wasn’t that easy, he couldn’t just call up a friend or coworker and ask them what they were planning on doing for Valentine’s… There was only one person who popped into his mind, one person he could go to for help. He took his phone from his pocket, and pulled open his contact menu, and slowly tapped on the number he wanted to call. Staring at the phone as it rang, he listened in, waiting for the fox to pick up the other end. After a few seconds, he heard a familiar voice on the other end. “</p><p>Hey there Stripes.” The voice said, in his typical smug tone.</p><p>“Nick yah gotta help me!” Jack called out in panic, desperate for the former hustler’s help.</p><p>“What did you do now Jacky Boy?” Nick Wilde responded in an almost taunting tone, which caused the hare to groan. He was all too aware of his rampant misfortune…</p><p>“Nick I just realized it’s Valentine’s Day! And I have nothing planned for Skye!” Jack whimpered. He was desperate for any help at all at this point. He didn’t want to disappoint his vixen…</p><p>On the other end, Nick paused for a moment before giving the hare his response. “Alright look Stripes, here’s what you do. I’m assuming wherever you are has a kitchen right? So, do what I did for Carrots and cook a romantic meal.”</p><p>Jack saw an opportunity to deflect Nick’s smugness back at him, and he took it. “Awwww! You made dinner for Judy? Could it be that the great Nick Wilde has gone domestic already?” He said, going full-on sass.</p><p>“Big words coming from someone who still needs help, Stripes,” Nick reposed, knowing Jack well enough to know when the hare needed to banter to keep calm. “But yes, I made my girlfriend dinner on Valentine’s Day, I know, scandalous.”</p><p>Jack couldn’t help but laugh to himself over this. “Oh mighty romance guru, I beseech you. Help this lonely hare with pleasing his arctic beauty!” he groveled, making Nick laugh at his friend’s antics.</p><p>“Alright Stripes, the ‘romance guru’ will take pity on you,” he chuckled, “just make her something simple, I made Judy some flambeed tofu and picked up some wine.”</p><p>“Well, I’m not really the greatest cook, but the worst that can happen is just some burnt food, right? Yeah, I think I can do that, Thanks Nick!” Jack hung up with excitement, glad he thought of calling the fox. He’d never admit it to him, but Jack always valued his help. He just could never let Nick know that or he’d become insufferable.</p><p>He shook his head, he had work to do, he couldn’t get distracted if he wanted to make Skye dinner before she got home. He opened the fridge and pulled out some tofu he’d been saving for her. Nick probably would have told him to do a simple recipe, but he’d be fine. He was Jack Savage after all. He snorted, if he kept thinking like that, he really would become a clone of Nick.</p><p>He chuckled at the thought of Nick being a bunny as he turned on the stove. While it may have helped Nick as a kit, Jack doubted the city would have turned out as well as it had without him hustling Judy. Jack held back a shudder at the thought of what might have happened to Skye if Smellwether succeeded.</p><p>“Maybe I ought to thank the Hopps for growing those blueberries,” he mused, unaware that some smoke was starting to drift from the stove. In his pondering, he seemed to have started to burn the tofu. He noticed this however, when a small grease fire started, the hungry flames leaping towards his paw.</p><p>He yelped and pulled it away, and stared in horror as the dinner he prepared for Skye went up in a blaze of smoke and fire. “No no no!” He panicked and did the first thing he thought of. He splashed water on it.</p><p>Instantly, the fire shot up in the air, burning the curtains above the sink. Jack thumped his foot reflexively, everything was ruined now! Part of him heard the fire alarm go off. And part of him felt the firefighter’s arm around him as he was carried out of his burning apartment. He didn’t care. He ruined Skye’s dinner, the only thing he had planned for his vixen. His ears drooped.</p><p>“Jack what did ya do noo?” An amused voice broke him out of his daze. Jack turned his head, meeting the warm smile of his vixen. He hung his head in shame, he messed up again.</p><p>He sighed, might as well bite the bullet. “I was a git and tried to make you dinner…” he explained. His ears reddened, why did Skye have to be so perfect? “And I- I guess I had the heat too high,” he trailed off, too ashamed of himself and what happened to meet her gaze.</p><p>Jack gasped in surprise as he felt a pair of soft arms wrap around him. He looked up and saw Skye staring at him with a serious expression. “Jack, haud yer wheesht,” she commanded sternly, before kissing him on the top of his head. “You’re not a git, you eejit.” She picked him up and held him close to her chest, nuzzling her cheek against his.</p><p>A purr escaped from Jack’s mouth, as he wrapped his arms around her in return. “I’m sorry I ruined Valentine’s Day,” he mumbled into her fur. Sky just sighed and shook her head, before she started to rub the base of his ears. The tension drained from his body at that, he loved Skye’s massages.</p><p>“Jack, ye didn’t ruin anything, don’t be daft. Ye ken that right?” She pulled away from him and gave him a serious look. She brushed his ears back up, giving the tips a small kiss. “Aw ah need to have a happy Valentine’s is ye. Ah <em>love</em> ye Jack Savage,” she stated firmly, before she kissed him on the lips.</p><p>In front of his burning apartment, his paw wrapped in a bandage from the initial flare up, Jack couldn’t hold back a smile. He might be a bit of a div, but as long as he had Skye in his life, he knew his life would be worth it. He returned her kiss, “I love you too my snow angel. Happy Valentine’s Day,” he whispered.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>We were aiming to get this out for Valentine's Day, but ran a little behind trying to get everything perfect. So enjoy this for White Day instead, sorry. Hope you enjoy</p><p>“Yare yare daze”= good grief<br/>"haud yer wheesht"=stop talking</p></blockquote></div></div>
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